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Steph11

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Jul 26, 2019
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My girlfriend has been visiting me from Germany for under 6 months. Yesterday we drove across the border to Alaska and then re-entered. The officer asked us questions and scanned our passports. Can she stay for another 6 months? There is no stamp or anything to indicate this and it would be nice to be sure
 
And when you were at the border you never thought to ask? Because it sounds like that’s why you did the border run. It could be for another 6 months or not . Some try to game the system by thinking they’ll automatically get another 6 months , to be sure that’s why people are encouraged to go online and request an extension directly with the IRCC
Your GF is from a visa exempt country , but it doesn’t mean she can continuously leave and re-enter , then it appears she’s living here, which she’s not allowed too
 
Her original six months runs out in about a week. So it looks like she will have to fly back to Germany just to be sure. We do not want to be in violation. I'm thinking about asking her to marry me so I do not want her to be barred from the country
 
Not trying to game any system here. Being completely honest. She came here on a holiday and we met and are inlove. We did drive to the Border to get or six months renewed, not trying to hide that?
It's difficult to apply ahead of time for a situation like this. Is there a way to check how long she is allowed to stay? And if you say go to the website I will reply that I do not have 90 days to wait for a reply as it says there
 
Not trying to game any system here. Being completely honest. She came here on a holiday and we met and are inlove. We did drive to the Border to get or six months renewed, not trying to hide that?
It's difficult to apply ahead of time for a situation like this. Is there a way to check how long she is allowed to stay? And if you say go to the website I will reply that I do not have 90 days to wait for a reply as it says there

Visitor status ends when a person leaves Canada. If her passport was not stamped with a different date by CBSA when she entered, she was granted a 6 month stay.
 
If you left Canada and re-entered with no date stamped on her passport, she has been allowed in for six months. If they wanted to give her a shorter stay, they would have stamped a date on the passport and made sure to tell you that she can only stay till that date.

That's the rule, so don't worry about it. She's been allowed in, they didn't tell you anything. That means six months.
 
A little more information on why I am confused. The border crossing I went to is small though there were four officers there. We were the only people going through at the time. The person came out to my truck and asked a few questions that we replied very honestly, scanned our passports and sent us on our way.
There was no stamp or anything to indicate that should be able to stay longer so I went inside and explained my situation and asked if they could stamp her passport so she could stay for another 6 months.
We had a polite conversation lasting a few minutes which at times involved all four of the officers there.
The conclusion of which was that she would have to leave as scheduled and that they had rules to follow and it was not their discretion to allow her to stay another six months that they were unable to do that and that was never done.
I thanked them for their time and left fully expecting that my girlfriend would have to fly back to Germany.
Later she called an immigration lawyer in Vancouver that speaks German and he said something similar to what I've read here that if you cross in and it's not noted on your passport you have six months. I also read this on other threads of this form.
There's absolutely nothing noted on her passport.
I'm a bit confused
 
They probably thought you were asking for another six months, because to them it was obvious that you knew she was being allowed in for six months.

Regardless, the law is clear. If you are allowed into the country by CBSA (doesn't matter if there were only four officers), and they don't make a notation on the passport, you have been allowed in for six months.
 
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A little more information on why I am confused. The border crossing I went to is small though there were four officers there. We were the only people going through at the time. The person came out to my truck and asked a few questions that we replied very honestly, scanned our passports and sent us on our way.
There was no stamp or anything to indicate that should be able to stay longer so I went inside and explained my situation and asked if they could stamp her passport so she could stay for another 6 months.
We had a polite conversation lasting a few minutes which at times involved all four of the officers there.
The conclusion of which was that she would have to leave as scheduled and that they had rules to follow and it was not their discretion to allow her to stay another six months that they were unable to do that and that was never done.
I thanked them for their time and left fully expecting that my girlfriend would have to fly back to Germany.
Later she called an immigration lawyer in Vancouver that speaks German and he said something similar to what I've read here that if you cross in and it's not noted on your passport you have six months. I also read this on other threads of this form.
There's absolutely nothing noted on her passport.
I'm a bit confused

As said above, doesn't matter. No stamp or Visitor Record = 6 months.
 
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Thank you very much for your reply, that is reassuring.
The officers were aware that I was talking about her having to leave in about a week.
There was no one else at the office and no one waiting in line and I don't think I misunderstood them and I was completely honest and I'm quite sure they didn't misunderstand me.
 
Thank you very much for your reply, that is reassuring.
The officers were aware that I was talking about her having to leave in about a week.
There was no one else at the office and no one waiting in line and I don't think I misunderstood them and I was completely honest and I'm quite sure they didn't misunderstand me.

I guess I'll just link you to the law and leave it there .

https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/r...ON_2_Conditions_on_Temporary_Residents_640857

Authorized period of stay

(2) Subject to subsections (3) to (5), the period authorized for the stay of a temporary resident is six months or any other period that is fixed by an officer on the basis of

185 An officer may impose, vary or cancel the following specific conditions on a temporary resident:

  • (a) the period authorized for their stay;

And here is the manual that guides CBSA

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf04-eng.pdf

Read Page 74-79

That's all from me.
 
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